A retrospective study of characterization of cystic lesions of pancreas by computer tomography scan

Abstract

Introduction: Cystic lesions affecting the pancreas are a frequent finding in clinical practice. They pose differential diagnosis which should be known and interpreted by radiologists, determining doubts concerning their etiology in many cases. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study was conducted in Department of Radiodiagnosis, AJ institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Kuntikana, Mangalore, Karnataka. All patients with proven cystic lesions of pancreas who underwent CT imaging using a 64 slice GE VCT from April 2020 to April 2021 at our institution were selected. All lesions were proven either by surgery or by endoscopy guided aspiration or follow up. Results: Out of the total 47 patients, 25 patients had pseudocysts and 22 patients had neoplastic cysts proven by histopathology or endoscopy guided aspiration. The neoplastic cysts include 6 benign IPMN, 8 serous cystadenoma, 4 mucinous cystadenoma, 2 SPEN and 2 mucinous cystadenocarcinomata. All the non-neoplastic cysts were pseudocysts and were predominantly seen in males than females with high prevalence between 41-50 yrs. All of them had association with acute or chronic pancreatitis. Most (58%- 11/19) of the benign neoplastic cysts were seen in females and all the 2 malignant cysts (mucinous cystadenocarcinomas) were seen in the males. All the SPEN were seen in females. About 75% (3/4) of the mucinous cystadenomas were female. Conclusion: CT scans helps us to diagnose various cystic lesions of pancreas based on different characteristic imaging features.